The Fairmont Austin has its aspirations set — a 170-foot tall architectural spire has been installed, officially elevating the hotel’s height to 590 feet.

This towering design element now qualifies the 1,048-room hotel as the second-tallest building in Austin behind the Austonian. An illuminated crown will cast its glow on the spire creating a dramatic landmark on the city skyline, according to an announcement from Gensler, the design firm for the luxury hotel. “The spire stands atop the building as a beacon, marking that place — welcoming visitors to Austin,” said Pete Chalfant, Gensler’s project manager. The beacon, for now, doesn't signify that there is room at the inn. After repeated delays — the luxury convention center hotel was originally scheduled to deliver in July 2016 — it appears that the developer, Manchester Texas Financial Group, is still not revealing a specific opening day. “Reservations are presently being accepted for hotel rooms beginning later this fall,” the announcement stated.

— Jan Buchholz, @ABJBuchholz

IT’S TRUE, EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN TEXAS

Schlotzsky’s, one of Austin’s iconic fast-casual eateries, is now part of the Guinness World Records club — but not for what you might expect, like building a sandwich that’s taller than the Texas Capitol.

The sandwich shop chain set the record earlier this month for the most contributions to a paint-by-numbers mural project, to celebrate its 46th anniversary. The mural was designed by Austin street artist Sloke One, and features a Schlotzky’s Original sandwich and the city’s skyline — with 2,643 individual sections painted by Austinites and visitors over three days, painted on an exterior wall of the company’s South Lamar Boulevard location. (In case you were wondering, it beat the previous paint-by-numbers record of 2,604 individual sections set in Hong Kong in 2015.) Schlotzky’s, which now has 350 worldwide locations, opened its first Austin location in 1971. Back then, the Original sandwich was its only menu item.

— Greg Barr, @ABJBarr

KEITH URBAN AND STEVE BALLMER WALK INTO A BAR...

Where can you find business minds such as former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and GSD&M co-founder Roy Spence alongside off-the-wall musicians and zainy film directors? Around here, we just call that another South by Southwest.

The latest slate of speakers for the festival and conference, announced Oct. 10, includes Spotify Chief Content Officer Stefan Blom, country music star Keith Urban and director Darren Aronofsky, who will deliver the film keynote.

A recent survey by Austin-based CreditCards.com said 71 percent of U.S. adults (30 percent) hadn’t heard about the breach that made headlines back on Sept. 7 and impacts 145 million U.S. residents. The study also showed that one in four Americans did check their credit after the breach — but 38 percent of Hispanics, 22 percent of African Americans and 16 percent of whites have never examined their credit rating. By the way, Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to have never checked their credit (27 percent versus 13 percent), the survey said. Read the full survey here: http://bizj.us/1pcnne